Disasters such as the Filomena storm in January last year or the eruption of the La Palma volcano have highlighted the importance of having a massive warning system in Europe. Although at first it seemed that it was going to be based exclusively on sending SMS, Civil Protection has now opted for a superior technology: Cell Broadcast. So you already know if you hear a strange beep on your iPhoneIt’s not that he’s gone mad. It’s an emergency.
An alert system that will sound on your iPhone
From El País, they explain how this Spanish government alert system works. Initially, Civil Protection was planning to use the mass sending of SMS
The cell broadcast system or cell diffusion It works almost instantly and in real time. Besides, takes little bandwidth and it is received by all the devices that are in the area of action of the communication antennas. Including the iPhone, of course. It should be noted that it is independent of the iPhone model we have and has nothing to do with the Apple Watch plans that Gurman revealed a few days ago, where the existence of a satellite connection for emergencies is indicated.
When an emergency alert is sent, our iPhone picks it up whenever it is in the range of these radio broadcasts
There are different examples of how it works in other countries around the world. As in the East of France, which combines sound and notification with an audio message. During a trip to California a few years ago, I received one of these warning messages during the wave of fires that swept through this state in the fall of 2017. They are very intense and do not only stop when the user rejects them.
The government plans to have this emergency alert system by the summer, without having a more precise date. Alerts can be sent at regional or national level depending on the magnitude of the emergency, in Spanish and in the co-official language of the autonomous community, as well as in another international language to be defined, which will surely be English. Alerts sent to smartphones will not replace those already sent by television and radio, but will be complementary methods.
So now you know. If your iPhone starts beeping with a sound you’re not used to, be careful. It can be a major emergency that you have to deal with in a short period of time. And so that it stops ringing, do not forget to dismiss the notification.
